Brothers
by Weezila
Summary: Because technically Robin's older than him and doesn't need anyone to protect him, and Connor doesn't even understand why he needs a name much less a little brother. But, Robin is tiny and human, and Connor is big and nearly indestructible. Superman is his mentor, who won't look at him, and Batman is cold, but for some reason always there when he needs someone. Family is strange.
1. Named

**Hello Internet.**

**This is because I love Connor being a big brother, even though he has no clue how and Robin certainly doesn't need it. **

**Best. Brothers. Ever. **

**(Except the Dick/Jason relationship—I'm gonna say it's a tie…)**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**0000000000000**

"Connor."

Superman's clone automatically looked up. A second later he wondered why.

Robin grinned a toothy, devilish grin at him. "Perfect." He nodded to himself.

"What's perfect?" The clone frowned at the tiny boy who was perched on the arm of the couch he was sitting on, staring at the fuzz on the TV screen. It had a pleasant, numbing sound to his super-sensitive ears that others didn't seem to notice or simply found boring. Robin, however, often took to sitting beside him and watching as well, though Superboy suspected he was thinking of other things rather than listening to the fuzzy sound, and sometimes he even fell asleep with his head resting on the back of the couch or his shoulder. And it was always late at night when Superboy found sleep unpleasant from the images slumber caused his brain to see and he rather sit and listen to the fuzz—Robin, unlike what Superboy had learned of other humans, didn't remain in his room for the night and sleep as well, but was often just as active as he was during the day. Strange as it was for normal human behavior, Superboy had come to accept and even like Robin's silent presence. He didn't know why.

But today Robin had taken to crouching on the arm of the couch like he was preparing to jump for the rafters and stare intensely at Superboy. He'd been doing it for over two hours now, but Superboy simply contributed it to another one of his strange tendencies and simply stared at the fuzzy screen and ignored him as usual. The little Bat had occasionally said a word or two, but the clone ignored him, dismissing the words as the things Robin often said to himself when he thought "out loud"—something he'd explained to Superboy (who could hear him even when he was just mumbling to himself) when the clone kept asking what he meant by the random thoughts Robin didn't intend others to hear. He didn't understand that either, but had come to accept it.

He didn't understand any of the words Robin had said so far today either, having not heard or recognized them before in normal daily conversation. Well, perhaps he knew them somewhere, but they were deep in the "Cadmus programmed" section of his brain and labeled as trivial information. Besides, Robin had told him it was better to experience things for himself than to go by what his fake memories told him he already knew, and he therefore tried to ignore that part of his brain as much as he could and focused on his own memories of things he'd learned in his short life.

So when Robin said "Connor", it was beyond him why he instinctively glanced over at the bird.

"'Connor' is perfect for _you_." Robin clarified, his triumphant grin doubling in wattage.

"Perfect for me for what?" The clone frowned.

"A name silly!" Robin cackled. Superboy felt a surge of a feeling he couldn't place in his stomach at the mention of a name. "If you want it that is. Connor just sorta fits you, ya know?" The boy explained, finally relaxing and hopping down to sit beside the clone properly.

"…Connor?" He repeated slowly.

It was then that he realized all the words Robin had been saying were in fact other names. He replayed them in his head, noting all the different languages and types that Cadmus had implanted in his mind, remembering how they sounded when Robin had said them.

And only for Connor had he automatically glanced over for.

"Superboy is a hero name," Robin continued happily. "But you can be more than _just_ a hero, right? You can be a boy too, and as that boy I thus dub you _Connor."_ He said in that tone Batman used to signal no one should argue with him.

The clone frowned in concentration. "Isn't… Superman…"

He didn't want to talk about it, but Superman was supposed to name him. He _was_ created for the sole purpose to protect the lives of others and of Superman's. It was programmed into every aspect of his being—that he was meant to protect and fight for Superman above all else. His name had always been _Superboy_. He was crafted for the single reason to be Superman's aid, and even his replacement if it ever came to that. The concept that Superman had a secret ID and that he pretended to be human with a normal human life was not something he'd been prepared for or could even accept, even now months after having everything explained to him once he left Cadmus and joined Young Justice.

So, since he was technically supposed to be Superman, Batman and Robin had pointed out that he should pick a regular, human name so he could pretend to be human as well.

But that went against everything Superboy was programmed to think.

The idea Superman and he could ever _not_ be in superhero mode was such a foreign and incompatible thought in the brainwashed clone's mind that he'd simply stared, unable to say anything in response to the others' suggestions and questions about what his name is.

Because they said "name" as if he didn't already have a name. Like they were asking for his _real_ name rather than his hero name. Like he wasn't _really_ a hero, like he had to be something else and be a hero _part_ time. Like that's what everyone else did.

But he lived in a cave and stared at a blank screen with pleasant fuzz when he wasn't a hero.

Was this being "Connor"?

"Superman lost his chance to name you." Robin said slightly tensely, but still with a broad smile. "And since you seem unwilling to pick one yourself—I'm just going to start calling you Connor!"

Superboy frowned. "So… I'm _Connor_, but only when I'm not Superboy?" He puzzled.

Robin tilted his head to the side curiously. "Well… it's more like you're Connor all the time but you tell people you're Superboy so they don't know you're Connor."

The clone gave him a blank look. "That makes no sense." He said bluntly.

Robin let his smile fall some as he thought of a way to phrase it. "Ok then, think of it like this: you are who you are, and that person is Connor. But, we don't want people knowing who you are because as a hero, you have to keep personal and professional work very separated or enemies can take advantage of it."

"Like you and Batman not telling others your identities." Connor agreed.

Robin looked pulled up short by that, but eventually nodded. "…Yes, I suppose it's a lot like that. You keep who_ you _are secret, and give everyone else a different name to keep that secret."

"But I don't have anything to keep secret." He shrugged. "I am Superboy and I'm Superboy all the time."

Now Robin was really frowning.

"But you don't _have_ to be." He insisted.

"Why would I be anything else?" The clone demanded, and they stared at each other for a long time in silence, refusing to be the one to break… well, Superboy not looking away simply because he didn't know whoever stared longer would win.

Robin tisked. "You are Connor because you're my friend. _ME_- the person behind this mask loves you like a friend, while the person _with_ the mask is obligated to mistrust you on principle in the case of mind control and in the name of contingency plans, understand?" He said briskly, and the clone nodded, having had this reasoning explained to him by both Batman and Robin, as well as all military strategies being implanted by Cadmus—it was nothing new.

"As Superboy, you are Superman's clone and his… backup I guess." He frowned deeply at that idea. "But I've known Superman since I was seven, and _you not him._ You're your own person, and my friend in a very different way than Superman is my friend, ok?"

Superboy frowned deeply too. "I don't think you said that to be insulting but… aren't I supposed to be Superman? If I'm not him, then I've failed." He was greatly upset by this in a way that made his throat close up.

"No, no, no!" Robin sighed, leaning into his shoulder which distracted the clone enough to let his throat open up again. "Physically being someone doesn't make you them—there are memories and upbringings and friends and family that shape you as you grow up and… you didn't have that. You're getting a very different upbringing than Superman did, so there's no way in hell you're going to be him—or even _think_ you should be him! I know Cadmus beat it into you that you need to be him, but if you never listen to a thing I say again, please believe me when I say that is an outright lie. Cadmus was _wrong_—you are _Connor_, a person and my friend, not a mindless weapon and a plan B for when Superman kicks the bucket."

They were quiet for a long time while Superboy thought that over.

"… why would I ever not listen to you? You're smart." He finally said and Robin tensed in surprise before letting out a cackling laugh.


	2. Decided

Superboy thought perhaps Robin assumed he didn't understand the concept of a name, and perhaps he didn't, but that didn't mean he stopped thinking about what Robin had said about him being… Connor.

He liked the name Connor. Robin called him that all the time now, and he always instinctively looked over when addressed as such. Somewhere along the lines he decided that natural instinct must mean his name really was Connor. After all, if what Robin said was right (and he'd quickly learned early on that what Robin said was usually right) then when the team called him Superboy—he was their teammate. And when they called him 'Supey' or 'Supes' and other nicknames (things like more personal names, as Robin had explained) then they were referring to him as a friend instead of just a teammate. When Robin called him "Connor", he was referring to him as a friend, instead of the possible threat that the Bats had to assume he was when they were talking about heroes and villains.

It made his brain hurt: after all, being more than one person while still being the same person depending on what people called you was NOT a situation Cadmus had remembered to teach him about. He was meant to be Superboy, and _only_ Superboy, and the idea he could be more than one person while not actually changing took him a full month to figure out.

In the end, he still didn't get it, but he decided he really liked it when Robin called him Connor.

It made him feel… important. Like he was actually needed and that he actually had a place. Because Robin had a friend in Connor—in _him_—apart from a teammate in Superboy.

He was Connor, yes?

AND Superboy.

Confusing… but not altogether bad.

So he started calling himself that in his head, and he didn't get so confused when Robin started talking to him with that name. However, the others still called him Superboy, and he wondered why. Maybe Robin hadn't told them he'd found a name for him, so he waited until someone would ask him, but they didn't. Apparently they decided to let the subject drop after the many months of Superboy just staring blankly at them when they asked. He would have to tell them then.

The next opportunity presented itself on their next training session, and everyone grouped together while Canary called out who would be sparring who.

"Megan, you will fight Kaldar and neither of you will use powers, understood? Kaldar especially work on teaching Megan more footwork on the ground instead of dodging while floating, and Megan, be sure to point out when Kaldar loses focus- you have a sharp eye for that. Artemis and Wally work on that exercise you were working on yesterday-"

"That wasn't an exercise, that was me trying to pin him while he was trapped in the training ring for calling me 'Arty Farty'." Artemis growled while Wally took a not-so-subtle step away from her at the venomous glare.

"Well, it teaches KF how to dodge, and teaches you to aim at fast-moving targets so, do it again." Canary smirked in amusement while Wally whimpered at Artemis's sadistic grin.

"Robin and Superboy, you can-"

"Connor."

Everyone froze and looked in surprise at the clone who'd interrupted in that blunt way of his.

"What?" Black Canary asked curiously, slightly taken off guard, while Robin—who was momentarily thrown by Superboy's statement as well seeing as he didn't really expect to have actually gotten through to the clone as evidenced by their less-than-resolved half-argument over the point of names—got over his shock and started grinning like a maniac.

"My name's Connor." He repeated bluntly. He looked back at her, not really seeing why she was so surprised by it. Hadn't they all been asking him about his name for months now?

"Ha!" Robin cackled in triumph. "I knew it would catch on!" He jumped in a flip for joy and clapped _Connor_ on the back happily.

"I like the name Connor." The clone frowned, confused at the smaller boy's excitement.

"And I'm glad." Robin countered with a blinding grin.

"Connor… I like it too." Megan smiled warmly at the two, and Connor smiled back a bit unsurely.

Canary looked vindictively pleased at the new development and smiled warmly as well. "Good then—Robin and _Connor_ will be working on agility training. Connor, you need to focus on your balance in delicate situations and Robin, you need to work on not leaving teammates behind: not everyone can flip through obstacles like you, so you will have to work on figuring out how to support others, understand?" They both nodded and they all split (Wally moving far away before Artemis could get her bow up) to work on their own exercises.

Canary stopped Superboy before he could go, nodding to him. "I like the name too. What made you chose it?"

"Robin picked it." He told her truthfully, and Robin appeared by his side, his blinding grin back in place. "And I think I like it." He decided, being happy at the way Robin's smile brightened when he said that.

"It was the only one he naturally responded to." The smaller boy informed their mentor, shrugging casually.

Canary looked intrigued. "Interesting," She noted. "Did you pick a last name?"

Connor frowned. "Why would I-?"

"_Oh_ no! We just got to the point where he kind of understands the need for a first name at all! Baby steps please!" Robin cried, hooking his arms around one of Superboy's and dragging him away to the obstacle course.

They heard Canary chuckle in amusement behind them. "Another time then…"


	3. Adopted

Let it be said that, contrary to popular belief, Batman really did have a heart.

It may have been slightly iced over and not even those closest to him have ever seen it shown, but he did.

Honestly, I'm dead serious. No lies.

But you're allowed to not believe me.

No one ever does when I say that anyway.

The point is that, putting the "Daddy-Bats" jokes aside, he _really was_ nothing if not parental, and a bit possessively protective. He was renowned for his trust issues and paranoia after all. Why else do you think he ended up being in charge of Young Justice? It wasn't like others hadn't eagerly volunteered—they were just no match for his silent glare telling them to back off.

Because his son was on that team. And Wallace, Dick's best friend since the speedster first started out as a hero and surrogate brother in the field, was also on that team. By proxy, though he was not Batman's ward or responsibility in any way, Kid Flash was covered in Bruce's realm of those that needed to be protected.

After all, if anything happened to the annoying red head, Dick would be crushed.

And that was not going to happen so long as Bruce was still the night incarnate and had the power to scare most of the world's evil off with a stern look.

An unforeseen addition to adopted children Batman had taken to by proxy of his son, was Superman's clone and Cadmus-created super weapon. Speaking as the king of paranoia (who had also formed several contingency plans for each League member should they turn rouge—Superman included) he was nothing if not actually glad the boy was created. He probably wouldn't have gone as far as Cadmus in actually creating a life to toy with like that, but he respected the motives behind it, flawed as their action plan had been.

And then Kent had gone and backed way off, leaving the clone alone and on Young Justice with no training.

Again, Batman had no issues with this, because as a busy hero that had suddenly found himself with a seven-year-old Romani acrobat with no clue what he was doing not so long ago (six years already? What was this, where had the time gone?) he understood the feeling, and was also quick to agree that Clark was not as adaptable and skilled enough to deal with being both a hero and a parent like he was. Especially to Clark's face, though in hindsight that probably wasn't helping the father/son situation between the Man and Boy of Steel.

Still, any chance to point out the Boy Scout's flaws. He wouldn't be Batman if he didn't.

Besides, he didn't mind it terribly because he saw it as a good opportunity to mold a Superman-like hero into a Bat, combining brains and skill with the brute strength and indescribability of a Kryptonian. He had no doubt after a few years as a team, with Black Canary, himself, and Robin as influencers and trainers, Superboy really would be the triple-threat Superman wasn't. The boy had a lot to learn, but the Bats loved a good challenge.

And then Dick had come home one day, grinning from ear to ear and saying he'd named the clone _Connor._

Almost immediately, Bruce realized the relationship between his son and the clone that had been steadily growing for months had surpassed simply 'teammates', as evidenced by Robin's naming of the clone, and _Connor's_ eager willingness to cling to that name, even seeming overjoyed someone called him as such.

So he watched, and what he saw was both comforting and troubling.

It was troubling when he saw just how lonely Superboy had become. Clone or not, he was a teenage boy, something Batman grasped almost immediately and something the rest of the League was slow on the uptake with. The only difference was that Batman simply didn't care or didn't make allowances and give special treatment like any other heroes might if they'd been the ones to figure it out first. He had three young boys hanging around his cave after all, and knew a thing or two about teenage heroes— but which didn't mean he automatically made exceptions for them either.

But he saw that the kid lived in the mountain, often alone as M'gann was always out and about and doing things and Kaldar was often back in the sea with Aquaman/training, and Connor spent his hours either training or staring at a screen of blank fuzz. He'd adopted a wolf (named _Wolf_, which Bruce gave a mental eye roll for) and that sentient metal sphere like pets, but even so those friends weren't helping his people skills, which were rudimentary at best. Not that Batman would make special allowances for something as useless as sympathy to the clone, but he noted that the clone was treated often like the tool or weapon he was created to be, rather than an actual person. He was blunt, often rude, and completely clueless 83% of the time, and it just didn't lend well to him being overly friendly or personable.

Two traits Batman didn't really see the need for when in a hero's guise anyway, so he actually approved of that. Not the clueless bit, but if that part could be rectified, he might actually be more Batman-like than Dick was.

He shelved that thought for the time being.

All that was mildly troubling, but what Bruce _did_ like was the way the larger boy instinctively protected Robin when in the field, even if the little bird didn't need it—and yes, Batman knew_ exactly_ how much Robin didn't need it, and yet was still pleased someone would always be protecting him.

For example—on YJ's last mission, some of it had been filmed by a security camera across the street from the warehouse they were supposed to be investigating (and of course ended up neck-deep in a battle at) and since they were a _covert_ team, Batman had taken to scanning city cameras to delete all video feeds of them. Watching the video, he was happy to see that when a bomb went off, Superboy leapt over forty feet and wrapped Robin—who was standing the closest to the bomb—in his massive arms, curling over the tiny boy and protecting him from the blast-wave.

Now, Batman knew that Robin's cape was made of a fabric that couldn't be burned, and the Kevlar of his costume would protect him from even close-range high impact shrapnel. He'd been trained to curl under the cape with a split second notice to protect himself, and probably would've been fine even if he did get a few nasty cuts and scrapes from it.

With Superboy there, he hadn't so much as felt the heat.

Not strictly necessary, but truly pleasing for the over-protective parent in Bruce.

Again and again such displays popped up in the video feeds of YJ's missions, and gradually Batman decided he approved of Superboy over even Wally. For one, he was more a Bat than the hyperactive speedster, and secondly, the clone's instincts were far more big-brother-like to Robin than Wally's. Not that Wally didn't want to protect Robin as well, it was just that KF had seen what Robin could do and was more worried about others on the team than their youngest member.

Logical as that thinking was, and as much as Batman approved of the intelligence and maturity it showed, _Bruce_ preferred Connor and the clone's refusal to admit Robin didn't need to be protected.

Wally was Dick's brother, but Connor was Robin's _big_ brother. His protector whether he wanted it or not—much like Batman was in his role as a father.

Bruce approved.

Still, the clone was like some raw material with no shaping or direction. Superman was useless (but Bruce already knew that before the alien flipped after finding he had an unwanted son), Black Canary sympathized but wanted to treat him like an adult in order to get him battle-ready, and Robin had mentioned more than once how unhappy his new brother was with no true mentor. The boy wanted Superman, and Clark was being an idiotic ass.

Connor wanted someone to look up to and to tell him which way he should be going, and he'd since given up on Superman, resorting to anger and frustration whenever said hero was mentioned.

Unformed hero with excellent potential and in need of a purpose?

The Bats always did love a good challenge.


	4. Translated

"Honestly, I had nothing to do with it." Robin noted in amusement as he and Batman scanned the Gotham Skyline while the infamous dynamic duo were out on patrol one rather uneventfully quiet night.

"You know I don't believe in coincidences." He rasped, but even he was having trouble figuring out how this had happened.

"Connor _Kent._ That's just freaky. Of all the names out there, he picks _Clark's_ name! And trust me, neither Cadmus nor Connor know Supes' ID, so as to where it came from…"

"If you say fate, I swear-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know: you _don't believe in coincidences_." Robin recited snarkily. However, the young boy had grown up surrounded by Gypsies, and had more than a little faith in the magic and mystic ideals of fortune tellers and the power of luck and _fate_ as he called it.

Bruce did not.

Still, this… _occurrence _(NOT coincidence) was pretty darn strange if he ever heard it.

"You know, now that he has a civilian name he wants to attend the high school in Happy Harbor." Robin said casually, but Bruce caught the question behind it.

"I suppose Miss. Martian would then too." He acknowledged without glancing over at the bird. Translation: _We'll see. _

"Socially awkward as they are, at least they'll have each other." He snickered. (_I'll teach them to stay under the radar)._

"High school isn't about navigating social waters, it's about learning—something neither of those two need. They are both decently intelligent, at least when not under the pressure of a mission." (_Make sure that you do)._

"Yeah, but the social bit is the interesting part—the part I think they're going for." _(They're gonna be stoked! Can I tell them?)_

"That logic is flawed, true as it is." _(Fine. But make sure they know what they're getting into.)_

"Ha! Welcome to high school!" _(Thanks!)_

"I was home-schooled by Alfred. That was one experience I fortunately missed." (_You're welcome. I pity them for this.)_

"Says the man who prides himself on being well-traversed in the world." (_Perhaps that's why you're so anti-social.)_

"That's it, get back to the cave. You have school tomorrow." Batman growled, and Robin let out a cackling laugh as he disappeared back into the shadows.

Bruce shook his head in amused irritation at his son's antics as he mentally started calculating the projected amount he'd have to spend on repairing everything Connor would inevitably end up breaking in Happy Harbor's gym class.


	5. Ignored

Clark frowned as Black Canary just shook her head sadly at him.

"What?" He demanded. All he'd asked was why she was so happy. Batman had come in and asked her something (that he only half heard because he was actually currently focusing on eavesdropping on the prank Barry was trying to plan with another league member down the hall) and then the normally serious heroine had started laughing happily, and agreeing excitedly.

"It's about Connor." She sighed dismissively, and he was momentarily thrown by the exasperated Bat-glare Bruce shot at him and the disgruntled tisking Diana started to do behind him as she searched the files at the main computer.

"Who's Connor?" He asked in confusion.

He tried his hardest to ignore the Bat's _'I cannot believe you are that much of a moron' _look he received, as well as Canary's sudden unamused glare and Diana's strangled scoff.

"Did he just ask who Connor was?" Green Arrow hummed, walking into the room and giving the Man of Steel an incredulous eyebrow.

"He what!?" Flash said in disbelief, appearing beside them. "Seriously?" He didn't seem angry or upset like Diana and Dinah were, but for once didn't seem to find it funny either.

"Connor. As in _Superboy."_ Canary huffed indignantly.

Clark felt his stomach ice over and his cheeks flush. Oh god, he really was an ass, wasn't he? He didn't even know the boy's _name…_ or that he even _had_ a name come to think of it.

"Oh." He said weakly.

"Yes, _oh."_ Diana muttered, stalking past them to flick through the files by the computers.

"When… uh…"

"When did he get a name?" Flash supplied, smirking at Clark's discomfort. "About six weeks ago or something like that."

"Connor _Kent, _actually." Batman deadpanned. "Pure coincidence so far as we can see." He said in response to the many shocked looks he was getting and Superman's flabbergasted expression.

"You don't believe in coincidences." Clark pointed out.

"No, but after a week of considering it and ending with no answer to how it could've possibly happened, the only explanation is that by pure chance he happened to pick the same name as his genetic parent. That… or the fact he simply took to your name after reading the Daily Planet almost daily for the past six months." Batman explained, and only those who knew him well could hear the obvious amusement he got out of holding this information over Superman's head.

"He _what?"_ Clark blanched.

"He's a bit of a Lois fan." Flash said, wiggling his eyebrows happily. "He thinks Clark Kent's a decent writer too. Funny how that happened, huh?" He laughed.

Superman muttered unintelligibly, not really sure what to think. How strange, that Clark's clone would naturally end up liking his girlfriend too. Strange, and totally unwelcome, even if he _was_ only 16—or six months, or whatever.

"Don't get your cape in a twist, he doesn't understand the point of romantic interests yet," Canary scoffed, his thoughts apparently obvious on his face. "And besides, he and Miss. Martian are getting along just fine if you ask me."

That threw him for a loop as well.

"When… wait, why Connor? He just…"

"Liked it?" Batman growled. "Yes. That, and Robin picked it for him. I didn't argue the last name because we had to put _something_ on his school transcripts."

Again, with the loop throwing.

"_What?!"_

"Oh, relax. Robin and he are good friends therefore it was only natural Dick would think up a name, and Superboy wants to go to high school in Happy Harbor with Megan, so he accepted it. Not like you care." Canary snipped, turning back to the computer consoles.

"Since when did Batman become the mentor for him? Since when did _Robin?"_ Clark demanded, finding the way the Bats were dealing with his clone like he was another Bat-in-training rather disturbing.

"Since you up and decided clones weren't people." Diana said coldly from behind him, and he flinched. Somehow, such an icy statement from the usually kind and understanding woman made it just that much worse.

"I never… I didn't say that." He tried to defend himself.

"You might as well have. You've made your opinion on him quite clear through your actions." Diana dismissed him.

"And for your information, he's nothing like you." Canary supplied while Flash laughed aloud at that thought. "Personality wise at least, he's your polar opposite."

"He's actually more like Batman if we're comparing." Flash grinned, and said mentioned hero paused before nodding once in agreement.

_That_ was not something Clark could've ever prepared for. One of his main dilemmas concerning the clone—_Connor—_ was that he would just be himself, only what he was when he was 16, and that was just too weird. Talking to a young version of himself? No thank you, not interested.

But a clone that… wasn't him? The way they made it sound, he was a stranger, just some kid. A kid that acted like _Batman_ versus him—which was pretty much as far removed as you could get from the original copy. They made him sound like another person.

Not an invincible weapon designed specifically with the purpose of destroying him. Which he was.

Wasn't he?

"How is that even possible?" He frowned.

"Nature versus nurture." Flash shrugged. "Only, he's not so much nature and more nurture. He's pretty much being raised by the Bats and YJ. Batman's in charge of his training regime with Canary, and Robin especially loves to explain and teach him things non-fighting related, so it's no surprise really he's turning into a Bat." He grinned.

"I give it three years and Connor will be Robin with super strength." Canary barked happily, obviously proud of the boy.

"You _can't_ be Robin with super strength, that defeats the point of being Robin, but he will definitely _not_ be a Boy Scout." Batman growled.

Clark absorbed that for a full five seconds.

Was he supposed to be insulted? Was he supposed to think they were stealing the clone away from him? He hadn't ever shown any interest in the kid, so he shouldn't be so surprised the others were stepping in.

Still, the fact that _his_ copy was being turned into a Bat was slightly nerve racking.

If not only for the fact that he'd end up being a Bat WITH superpowers—something that most certainly should scare every being taking up residence within traveling distance of this galaxy.

He wanted to comment. He wanted to, but he had no clue what to say.

Was he upset?

Not really. He had no reason to be.

Was he angry? Or glad?

Maybe? It _did_ feel like Bruce was enjoying taking advantage of this situation immensely, which maybe should alarm him or trigger some sort of response, but by that same token it wasn't like Clark could do anything to dissuade him of that either. He was Batman, he'd do what he wanted whether Clark wanted him to or not.

And besides, Clark had been enjoying ignorance. It'd taken him twelve years to come to terms with the fact that he was an alien and had powers, and then another five to really work out what to do with them once he got over the acceptance point. Bruce knew that, and he never missed an opportunity to rub it in his face. If it took that long to come to terms with himself, how the heck was he supposed to do that right away with a kid too?

No, ignorance was bliss. The League put up with it because he was Superman, the Boy Scout who did everything right in 95% of his life, and to work together as a team you had to put aside personal disagreements for missions. Sure, he'd heard some things about the clone every so often, especially when discussing YJ with others, but for the most part he was glad to be in the dark. Despite how guilty he felt when they gave him those disappointed looks, in six months this was only the third time he'd been confronted with the issue of his clone (save for Batman, but Bruce confronted him about everything anyway, so it wasn't like that was anything new), and despite his misgivings about his actions, it wasn't enough to prompt him to try and overcome the total freaked-out weirdness he was struggling with every time he gave the boy a thought.

He could avoid it indefinitely like this, and the Bats would take care of him until he figured out what he wanted to do with his artificially given life.

Figured it out far, far away from Metropolis.

Ignorance was bliss.

It'd be ok like that for a while longer, right?

So, instead of commenting, he just nodded to his fellow Leaguers and slipped away, already pushing his qualms away and stretching his hearing to see if anyone needed help back in his home city.


	6. Informed

"You might want to speak to Superboy." Batman said gruffly, swooping into the Batcave and immediately downloading some found information into its databases.

"Hmm…. And why's that," Dick responded off-handedly. He'd returned from patrol an hour ago to finish a paper due in school Monday, and was just finishing up around four am—the typical time Bruce called it a night during the period after all the criminals who'd broken out of Arkam last month were safely back in their cells. Gotham tended to move in cycles—a mass break out in a jail/Arkam followed by a month or two of high-profile targets being hunted down by Batman relentlessly, followed by a couple weeks of heavy petty crime like muggings and low-profile robbings, until things settled down for a couple weeks to a month before there was a breakout again.

They were on a low period, where crime was down, but it had already been three weeks and they were expecting a breakout or some other big things to happen pretty soon. So, since YJ was doing nothing, Robin had taken to staying at home just to be on call. There was always something to do, but if they criminals could be caught within the first day or two of a breakout, they typically stayed in jail longer for some reason. So, all hands on deck for the time being.

That, however, did not stop Mrs. Monroe from assigning term papers.

Hence the homework break from patrol.

"Because Superman was at the Mountain this afternoon on business with Canary, and I've been told it didn't go well." Batman said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Robin whipped around in his spin-chair, nearly toppling the laptop and notes balanced on his lap and the keyboards around him.

"Say what now?!" He yelped, startled out of his homework-haze very abruptly. "What did he do to Connor?" He demanded.

"They had a conversation. Although, Canary reported that Superman left immediately after that and Superboy has not spoken much since. He is however, acting surlier that usually, which could pose a threat to team dynamics if not fixed immediately.

Dick stared at his father's back, trying to process that.

He huffed in annoyance, turning back to his homework. "Clark's an idiot. I'll talk to Connor first thing in the morning…. And If Clark somehow insulted him, I _swear _I'm going to start putting my Kryptonite into some _use_…_"_

"See that you do." Bruce's voice came from behind him, passing him to move towards the stairs leading to the main house. Dick could hear the smirk in his tone, and gave a sighing smirk of his own.

It may have been hidden well, but the fact he said anything meant Bruce was just as worried about Connor as Dick was. The Boy Wonder was secretly beyond pleased his dad—hard-ass as he was at first—had eventually come to accept and even care about his friends too, even if no one but he ever noticed it.

He had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with Connor being over-protective on missions— just like Batman tended to be when out facing Gotham's biggest villains with his little bird by his side— and as insulting to his competence as that was, for now, Robin would take what he could get.


	7. Revealed

**Hello Internet. **

**Because it had to happen eventually, and I love depicting Robin reveal fics.**

**Enjoy!**

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Robin was back at the Mountain at the crack of dawn, shaking Wally awake and feeding him bacon and coffee to get the speedster moving at an acceptable speed to give a recap of what had happened with Superman the day before.

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad?" Robin frowned, sipping his own coffee while Wally downed three cups of milk, two waffles, and half a pound of bacon before Robin could even set his mug back down.

Wally pondered it seriously for a moment. "12.8. Give or take a few for rounding."

Robin rolled his eyes, but quickly got down to concentrating on the issue at hand. "Did he just show up? No warning?"

"Oh, there was warning—just not the kind the socially inept take notice to. Canary all but threw us into the lifting gym to get us out of the way after Batman signaled the computers. We all knew something was up, but then he got here and Connor wandered away…"

"Not good." Robin muttered darkly.

"Con hasn't said much since, but he's been beating the heck out of the training dummies and the weights. Plus he unusually blunt and unobservant, which may not mean much except that we all know it does." KF sighed, finishing off the bacon and three more waffles as the rest of the team started filtering in.

Connor didn't come in with Megan like usual, though by her arrival a minute later with a slight hurt look on her face, it was evident it wasn't because she didn't wait for him.

"So…" Robin began in his most cheerful voice, like he did when starting a conversation with a very angry Connor. "How're things?" He asked playfully, and Connor only stared blankly at the counter between them. The rest of the team settled at the round table behind where Robin sat, watching Connor as unobtrusively, yet closely as they could.

He was in a very bad mood and had been since the inadvertent and totally disastrous run-in with Superman, and they'd seen what he'd been doing to the practice dummies. They loved him to death, but he was still pretty volatile, especially when it came to his absent mentor.

Robin was the only one who could ever calm him down again, talking both as cheerfully and logically as only a child could muster up, and as upbeat as they could never be.

Unlike most teenagers, Connor didn't respond to the over-enthusiasm with cynicism and irritation, but honestly seemed perplexed and confused by it. At least it distracted him enough to forget what was bothering him, and actually listen to the logic Robin was trying to instill upon him, which in turn helped mellow out his irrational moods.

"Come on, Bats told me you had a run-in yesterday. Tell me I don't have to go spike his drink with Kryptonite, do I? I will for you, you know that right?" Robin insisted, nudging Connor's hand teasingly where is rest on the counter.

Connor just stared.

"He didn't know my name. He barely recognized me." He said quietly, so even Robin almost didn't hear him, sitting the closest.

Robin sensed the rest of the team stiffen their seats, so they obviously didn't know that little fact either. Artemis and Wally especially, who never agreed on anything, were giving each other equally astounded and furious looks on behalf of their teammate who seemed to have given up completely at this point.

They all knew how Connor had been created to think he should be Superman, wrong as it was he still struggled with the idea he should be. Meeting the original who didn't even recognize him was a harsh blow—it meant he really had failed at becoming Superman.

Not that they'd ever want him to be, but… they all knew how much that must've hurt him.

"…He doesn't know much then, does he?" Robin said half-heartedly. Even he knew there wasn't much he could say that would make Connor feel better.

"Do I look like a Connor?" The clone wondered aloud randomly, and Robin blinked rapidly in surprise.

"You _are_ a Connor to me, so, uh, yeah."

"I don't know any other Connors." Artemis shrugged. "So, you're my definition of Connor." She said reassuringly, the team chiming in with their own agreements.

"Do I look like an Artemis to you?" Wally asked jokingly, earning himself as whack over the head.

"No." Connor frowned, bluntly honest and confused as usual.

"Ignore them, they're flirting again." Robin told Connor wisely, ignoring the chorused denials/complains from behind him.

Connor just frowned at him, thinking hard.

"What?" Robin asked curiously.

Connor continued to think hard for a few moments in silence.

"I don't think you look like a Robin." He declared randomly again, and this time Robin felt his eyebrows shoot way up and disappear into his shaggy hair.

"I don't?" He exclaimed, half amused and half alarmed by this announcement. "Who do I look like then?" He wondered back.

Connor's frowned deepened. "I don't know." He huffed, going back to staring blankly at the counter.

Robin turned and gave the team wide eyes, which they returned with little shrugs of helplessness.

Great. Where was he supposed to go from here?

"So… was that a not-so-subtle jibe at me keeping my identity hidden?" Robin asked curiously leaning forward over the counter to try and catch Connor's eyes, which he did as the clone looked at him in confusion.

"No. Isn't a jibe meant as a mean insulting statement?" He thought aloud.

"Well, yeah, but I mean, was that a complaint that you don't like that you don't know me outside the mask?" Robin clarified.

Connor blinked, thinking it over.

"You named me. Why can't you tell us your name?" Connor asked bluntly, and Robin sighed heavily, leaning his arms against the counter. This was what he was afraid of. Still, this tangent conversation was familiar waters, ones that he'd traversed and successfully avoided with his team before—much better territory than trying to come up with a solution for his Superman problem in a morning.

"You know why." He sighed with a half-playful smirk.

Connor frowned. "I don't like it." And then the smirk faded and Robin sighed heavily in defeat.

"It's ok Connor, Robin still trusts us, we just need to trust him on this." Artemis comforted the clone, who didn't move or respond in any way.

Robin turned and looked at her, smiling to show his thanks, then turned his back on the other four to confront Superboy again. The clone was looking blankly at the stone counter, and something about it just seemed… beaten, completely defeated. He was typically angry when thinking about Superman, but now… he just seemed to have given up all hope. Which, was arguably more frightening.

They didn't need a mind link to know that they all wanted to comfort him in some way, but had no clue how.

"He doesn't trust me." Connor finally said, and Robin slowly placed his hands on the counter and straightened up in slow motion.

"Superman," He said cautiously.

Connor didn't answer.

After a minute, "He says I'm too unruly. I can't think for myself or speak for myself or act for myself." They all expected him to be growling by now, perhaps even yelling, but he remained devoid of emotion, and it scared them all.

"Well, he's being an ass." Robin said firmly. He loved Clark like an uncle, but Connor needed him now more than Clark needed his respect—which, under these circumstances, he totally didn't deserve. "Don't think Bats and I don't compare notes, you're a much better teammate than Superman is." He declared.

"Superman leads. I follow." Connor said dully, almost as if he'd given up trying to argue with his absent mentor.

"Bull Pucky!" Robin snapped, and Connor lifted his head to tilt it sideways and give the Boy Wonder a confused look at the random expression. "Listen, Connor, not everyone is born to be a leader, but even fewer are born to be good followers. Dependable, good people you can trust your life to, now _those_ are people who are hard to come by. It makes good leaders look like trying to find air compared to trying to find people you can depend on like that, and I'll say it right now, you are one I trust, over Superman, over any of the league, save maybe Batman for obvious reasons." Robin ranted in his 'you-know-I'm-always-right-so-why-are-you-arguing? ' voice that didn't leave room for much debate.

"I was born to be Superman, and he is a leader and I am not." Connor said dully. "And you do not trust me with your name. I do not understand why you are saying I am dependable when I cannot control what I do from one minute to the next. I do not understand." He went back to gazing blankly at the table. "I do not understand…" He mumbled, barely loud enough for Robin to hear sitting two feet away across the counter.

The rest of the team exchanged alarmed looks.

"Supes, come on man-" Wally tried to say, but Robin held up as hand and silenced him, not taking his masked eyes off the dejected clone before him. He was supposed to be Connor's teacher when he didn't understand things… and this… this was just another lesson… right?

"No, he's right, I've given him no reason to show I trust him." Robin said before he could change his mind. The four behind him exchanged confused looks. Robin paused for nearly a full minute, and no one spoke.

Seriously, it was Connor— and this was a point that needed to be proven. He knew it was a risk but… Bruce wouldn't mind _too_ much…

"We need to fix that, don't we?" He didn't turn around, but they could hear the smirk in his voice.

The Boy Wonder leaned over and put a hand on Connor's arm, which was crossed tight across his broad chest as he stared anxiously preoccupied at the counter, and the clone looked up at him with a curious look at what he wanted.

Robin reached up to his face and pulled his mask off, and the four behind him blanched as they realized what he was doing.

Connor's eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped as he looked at the unmasked Boy Wonder, taking in for the first time, sapphire eyes as deep as the ocean and the face of a truly beautiful boy. He looked completely different without the mask, somehow conveying youth and beauty like a little angel from the books he'd been reading on earth history. He didn't look like a vigilante, he looked like a child, brimming with life as he grinned his pearly toothed grin as him, suddenly looking warm and care-free rather than arrogant and clever. The thick lashes around the pools of blue made Connor not want to turn away, to keep looking forever.

Blue eyes, deep as the sea. Blue eyes, wild and warm, cold yet caring.

He blinked, and they were still there, the blue eyes. He wasn't imagining them.

Robin let out his signature cackle and slipped the mask back on before the others could come to investigate and Superboy found it hard to close his mouth.

"You have-"

"We're not saying it, please. You may not recognize me, but they will in two seconds flat," Robin chuckled, gesturing over his shoulder to where their teammates were gaping in shock at the exchange.

Connor immediately felt the request settle in his chest, and he closed his mouth firmly and nodded. He was being asked to keep Robin's identity secret; he was being trusted to do that. He _would_ do that. He wouldn't go looking for his name, because that is not what Robin wanted, but he would hold the image of the boy underneath the mask firmly in his mind and nowhere else. He would be trusted to do this, and he would do it at all costs.

He was trusted with that.

He felt his lips curl upwards, his heart cheered greatly by this new turn. Superman had been _wrong_, he _could_ be trusted. He would prove it.

"You have pretty eyes." Was all he said, and Robin let out a round of cackling laughter at that comment.

"Come _on!"_ Artemis moaned petulantly, darting around the counter. "That's not _fair!"_ She complained.

"We don't get to see your eyes?" Megan frowned, but only slightly, her eyes happy now that Connor seemed to be in a better mood.

"Nope!" Robin smirked, popping the 'p' and he spun around on his stool and leaned back against the counter arrogantly. "That's me and Supey's secret now. Well, and Batman's, but that's beside the point."

Connor beamed.

"And you won't tell us?" M'gann frowned slightly at Connor, who shook his head proudly.

"As he should." Kaldar agreed with Connor. "Though, I too wish I had seen Robin's face, I understand this trust was necessary." That stopped most of their complaints as the rest of them—who'd been preoccupied with missing out on seeing Robin's eyes—also noticed Connor's demeanor had changed to be happy and joyful from his earlier depression.

Wally just caught Robin's eye and grinned at him, mouthing '_Nice one!'_ when no one was looking.

"I still don't think you look like a Robin though." Connor told him matter-of-factly, and Robin just raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh? I don't?" He challenged lightly.

"No. But I do think Superman was wrong in thinking I didn't look like a Connor." He told them firmly.

They all exchanged quick, satisfied looks. That was _huge_ progress for him—to _not_ think Superman was perfect in every way, and to even _disagree_ with him.

It was a big day for Superboy.

Robin beamed. "And I agree. Superman has never been more wrong. About everything."


	8. Debated

**Hello Internet.**

**If you haven't already noticed, I don't really like the real timeline of Young Justice and am making up my own. Just to avoid confusion and those know-it-alls who like to point out every inconsistency and often forget this is FANFICITON off not only FICITONAL worlds, but also the story as seen it by a fan, and not a professional writer.**

**Ignore that inner rant, I've no clue where it came from. **

**Just roll with it. **

**Enjoy!**

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"You're going to have to chose."

"Not technically, I_ could_ ask them both."

"And that would go over about as well as skydiving with no parachute. Fun for a bit, but then… ker-_splat!"_

"You are no help."

"Never claimed to be. But seriously, who're you going to ask?"

"That's a stupid-ass question and you know it. It's like trying to chose between a brother and an uncle, and as much as I love them both…"

"Siblings come first."

"_Teammates_ come first. Not only is Connor like a brother and friend to me, he's also the one counting his life to me just like I put _my_ life in_ his_ hands every day. Or, on missions at least. _Not_ inviting him would be betrayal, but worse somehow."

"He probably wouldn't mind. Or notice."

"Not the point Wally, not the point at all." Dick sighed, banging his head against his bedpost in defeat/frustration as he lay upside down on his bed in his room at Wayne Manor. Wally was spinning slowly—for him—around in Dick's desk chair as they discussed their current dilemma.

Well, Dick's dilemma. Wally had already picked a side and was standing by it, but Dick was still evenly divided, and it was really tearing him up as he internally debated.

The issue was that Dick was having a birthday party—not on his _real_ birthday because that would give away too much about his secret ID—but three days before on a Tuesday, which happened to be the day that statistically crime was down. No one was really sure why, it was just one of those statistical things that the Bats liked to keep track of, and as odd as it was, crime was usually its lowest on Tuesdays.

Strange, but true.

Anyway, he was having this party in roughly three weeks now and everyone was coming, sans his villain friends (don't ask, it's complicated). It wasn't his idea and he wasn't sure who had noted it (he had a strong suspicion it was the Flash, but had no proof as of yet) but this birthday was particularly special because he was turning fourteen, a year after starting on Young Justice, and the day officially marking that he'd spent more of his life as a hero than not.

Which, was a pretty big accomplishment if he stopped to think about it, not something just any hero could claim, and he truly was excited for it (which had _nothing to do_ with the fact he loved attention… ok, maybe a little) to see all his friends and family in one place, which _never_ happened when your family consisted of very busy heroes.

He was excited, yes, but there was a rather large, bittersweet storm cloud hovering over it at the same time. And it wasn't the stereotypical, 'he missed his real family in the circus and this was a reminder he was farther away from them than ever before' issues, though that also may have been nagging at the back of his mind—those were vague feelings, and he could push them away very easily with the excitement for the party.

No, his really problem lay in what to do about the Superman/Superboy conflict. _Especially _after the debacle of last month—something Batman and Canary had given Superman an ear-full for, but still had no effect on the Man of Steel's actions as of yet. If anything all it did was make sure that Connor now slightly disliked his hero on top of being hurt that he wasn't accepted, instead of just clinging to that last shred of hope he'd come around and being crushed every time Clark didn't come through.

Superman had done more than enough to smash that last little shred into nothingness, and now Superboy had a new goal of being at least a respectable hero enough to catch his not-mentor's attention rather than _actually_ trying to be him.

Now Connor wasn't blaming himself so much for _not_ being Superman, which everyone was quite happy about.

Even with all the good stuff, that didn't help Robin at the moment.

Clark had been like a second father or a dear uncle to him since they met after finally convincing Bruce that Robin should meet the League and not be restricted from leaving Gotham while all metas weren't allowed _in _Gotham either. Once that hurdle was overcome, Dick was over in Metropolis all the time, especially when Bruce went overseas for business or "business" (meaning hero work disguised as business for the public). Dick liked to travel, but when he was younger and yet still balancing school, public life, and hero work, sometimes adding in the jetlag was more difficult than Bruce thought a child so young should be dealing with, and made him stay behind even if Dick argued. (But a seven year old fighting crime in Gotham city wasn't an overload in itself? Made no sense to him, but he went with it because arguing with Batman on the specifics of his paranoia was insane, even for Robin). Still, that meant Dick had spent a lot of quality time with other League members, Clark especially. Bruce may not have ever said it out loud, but Robin knew of all the heroes in the League, Superman was the most competent and could deal with his job, (both hero and non) as well as protect his son the best, which was why Dick often found himself in Metropolis rather than Star or Central.

As close as he was to Superman, Robin was also just as close to Superboy. Connor, who he'd named, trusted, taught, fought beside, loved like a brother…

Uncle or brother?

It wasn't a choice really. Connor was closer to him, he meant more in an odd way, in a way Superman never did. Maybe it was the odd relationship they had, where Connor needed him in some ways too, rather than it just being Robin that depended on him. Connor was clueless, helpless like a little kid when it came to everything that didn't involve crushing something. Robin was the person who taught him how to do that everything else.

Superman didn't need him. Loved him like a nephew definitely, and more often than not counted on helping him soften Batman up when he needed something from the caped crusader, but he didn't _really _need him. Not like Connor did.

So, even if Connor didn't really realize or mind that Robin asked him not to come to the party so as to avoid Superman, Dick would never do that to him. He was supposed to be Connor's teacher, his unofficial mentor in the realm of real life rather than just fighting, and he would never do that to the poor, clueless clone.

Especially not just because Clark was being an idiot. Clark knew better, but Connor didn't.

And Wally was right, having both of them there would be terrible. Clark would close up and say nothing the entire night, and Connor would just get hurt, upset, and angry all at once and accidently break something, or cause a scene that'd make everyone awkward and ruin the party.

Not that Robin would blame him. In fact, he'd probably just blame Superman, and so would everyone else, which would only make matters worse. It'd probably just push Connor over the edge and make him _actually __**hate**_ Superman on top of being hurt and upset—none of which Robin wanted to see or risk.

No, he could only ask one of them to come.

But, since they were both already planning on coming, that meant he had to _un-ask_ one of them.

And by one of them he meant Superman. Which would be just terrible, because even though he was being an ass, he was still family and Dick still cared.

"You know what you have to do, and I highly suggest doing it sooner rather than later." Wally said unhelpfully.

Dick groaned, banging his head into the bedpost again.


	9. Picked

The League did not _do_ 'parties'.

Sure, Wayne Enterprises and Queen Industries sometimes threw those formal parties for a publicity stunt the League needed, or as a façade for a mission that needed a decent excuse to be somewhere, as well as those companies needing social gatherings for their business connections and roping League members into helping out as well.

So, maybe it did do parties, but not _fun_ parties.

This party was different—everyone that was going to be there was there for a very special reason, because they all had something in common.

Robin.

Or Dick Grayson if you were one of the founding members and knew the Bats' identities, but either way, both Dick and Robin had wormed their way into most of the League's hearts. Having a seven year old superhero running around the very stoic and business-oriented Watchtower was bound to affect people after awhile and nearly everyone loved the boy.

Even some villains he'd heard, but that was a discussion for another time.

Everyone going to this party (and by everyone, that was a definite _everyone)_ had the little bird as common ground, so there wouldn't be the normal awkwardness boring parties usually came with.

And the reasoning for such a big celebration was enough excitement on its own…!

That kid was only _seven_ when he started in as a hero (also a record and a first), and in a couple weeks, he'll have officially been doing it for seven years too. He'll literally have been fighting crime for a lifetime—his lifetime, but still, it was pretty impressive.

There were quite a few heroes that had been at it much longer, but none so far as Clark was aware had ever done it for the majority of their lives. And it wasn't like Dick was the type of person to just quit at being a hero either—he may not be the Boy Wonder forever, as he'd already hinted at different mantle ideas a couple times, but he was definitely going to be a hero for most, if not the rest of his life.

_That_ was also an accomplishment for the record books, on top of the one being marked in a couple weeks.

They wouldn't be human (or, uh, mostly human) if they _didn't_ throw a party to celebrate.

And Clark knew firsthand how much Robin loved attention; he knew for a fact the boy was over the moon about it too.

"_Recognized… Batman- 01… Robin- 02…"_ The Zeta beam called out, and the dynamic duo appeared in the doorway.

Clark grinned at Robin in greeting—ignoring the Bat as per usual their greetings—but the boy only waved half-heartedly back. For a kick who could look upbeat during an in-progress apocalypse, it was alarming to say the least.

The Boy Wonder ran up to where Dinah and Diana were discussing something over the computer consoles and gave them a wide-eyed look.

"… _and we should really make sure the perimeter has more reinforcements this time, especially where the tanks—Robin! How are you? Why're you…"_ Superman's super-hearing picked up on Diana saying once she spotted the teen hero.

"_oh no Di, we should go. Let's go back to the Mountain and we can finish."_ Dinah made whatever connection Robin was silently trying to convey. _"We'll be closer to the air fields there anyway, and we can borrow one of the jets."_

"_What's wrong?"_

"_Not much. Just…"_ Clark didn't miss the way she glanced his direction. _"I'll tell you back on the ground."_

Wonder Woman looked wary, but nodded reluctantly, giving Robin a greeting/farewell hug and saying goodbye. The two heroines' departure was signaled by the Zeta beam alarm beeping twice, and Clark glanced around to realize the rest of the main room where he was sitting going over some of his own files had been emptied.

"What's up?" Robin's voice came, much closer and obviously directed to him—the only person left in the room.

"Oh, not much… just some files I'm archiving for League records, the boring stuff." He said with a cheerful smile at his favorite kid. He wasn't one for kids, but Robin was smarter than most adults when he was still a toddler—the rules didn't really apply to him much. Still, he felt the protective pride for the boy he was sure fueled Batman's paranoia when it came to his son, and as much as he'd refused to say it aloud when the Bat was near, he did love the boy like a step-son in many ways.

His relationship with Batman was rocky to say the least, based on insults and a give-and-take of power and respect ending in a mutual acceptance of each other's existence.

In other words, best friends. And best rivals. It was complicated.

That as it was, if either of them were into that sort of thing, Clark would definitely be Dick's godfather, or at least back-up caretaker in the very likelihood of Bruce's untimely death-by-Joker or '_insert random villain/apocalypse/natural disaster/freak occurrence Batman tried to fix here'_.

After Alfred of course.

And Selina Kyle, though Clark often wondered and hardly ever got an answer on that one.

"Oh, cool. I mean totally boring, in a cool way." Robin chatted, but for once, not happily.

"Something bugging you kid?" Clark prompted, half jokingly, half curious.

He got a strange sense of foreboding when the teen just pressed his lips together in frustration, hopping up into one of the larger stools (created for some of the larger meta-beings at the Watchtower and making his look even smaller than he already was) at the console, and crouched there like he was preparing to jump for the rafters at any moment. He did that when he was thinking hard, or was worried about something.

Whatever was bothering him, it must have been bad, because he glanced around the room briefly before taking off his mask.

He _never_ did that, not in public or even the Watchtower. Batman would kill him.

"Uh, Bats probably isn't going to-"

"He knows and is already deleting the video footage as we speak." Robin cut him off absentmindedly.

A second later it clicked: the duo had planned this littler confrontation. Of course they did, they were _Bats. _

Dick probably got Dinah in on it earlier at the mountain, so that when he went up to her and Wonder Woman they never had to say it aloud, but it was enough to grab Superman's attention away from Batman kicking everyone else out and disappearing himself.

They totally set him up and cornered him.

But for what? What was so important it required such planning?

[Though, to them it probably wouldn't have been planning so much as thinking logically—they could probably orchestrate this in their sleep (if they in fact ever slept) while saving their "planning" skills for the works of art they come up with on missions].

"So… should I be asking _you_ what's up?" Superman said, admitting he'd been caught and putting his files down, patiently waiting for an answer.

Dick sighed, his blue eyes flashing unhappily. Clark hated that look—it was the look Dick always got when he was blaming himself for something he didn't know how to fix. The kid had a big ego, he had to admit, and it came with the belief he could do anything, even when he couldn't. _Especially_ when he couldn't.

"You know that party dad's throwing in a few weeks?"

"Yeah, everyone's goin—woah, _Bruce_ is the one throwing it?!" Clark half-yelled in surprised.

"Yes, but that's not the point right now," Dick dismissed his shock impatiently, and Clark forced himself to swallow his comments and shelf that surprising thought for later.

"Ok, my bad, your point?" He prompted.

Dick bit his lip in frustration. "The _point_ is that I'm inviting YJ to come too. In fact, I'm fairly certain we're having it at the Mountain, as per my request."

Mount Justice. That made sense.

"Problem?" Clark raised an eyebrow at the boy's obvious stress.

He huffed in irritation. "The _problem_ is that I want Connor to be there."

He opened his mouth with the words on the tip of his tongue before he quickly bite them back, the "_Who's Connor?"_ that'd gotten him into trouble a while ago hastily retracted before he could say the words aloud.

A second later, the words themselves sunk in, and an odd icy feeling spread through his stomach. Memories flitting vaguely and unpleasantly in his mind's eye of a face eerily similar to his own, only filled with shock and hurt when he hadn't recognized the teen immediately….

"Uh… problem?" He challenged again, but sounding less sure than last time.

Robin just gave him a skeptical look. "The problem is exactly that: you freezing up and acting weird every time someone mentions him." He sighed.

Clark forced himself to relax, having not realized his entire body had tensed up.

"Ah… it's not a problem, I can deal, just… I'm sorry. I… do you… do you know why I, uh…"

"Why you act like that?" Robin supplied, looking up calculatingly at him.

"Well, yeah." He shrugged helplessly. Robin usually understood him best out of everyone—not only was he a super-detective in training, but he also cared enough to notice and have the empathy Batman just didn't care to. The Bats usually understood everyone better then they knew themselves, but Batman just took to rolling his eyes mentally at their stupidity while Robin liked to point it out and talk it through with people.

So it was the shock of his life when Robin spoke again.

"No." He declared. "No, I don't. I mean, logically I do, I guess, but for the life of me I will never understand how the man who's like an uncle to me can be such an ass to his sort-of son."

Clark stared at him in shock.

Robin stared back, stubborn and brave as a Bat ever was in not breaking eye-contact, though Clark could see it in his eyes how much it hurt him to have to say this to his uncle-figure.

"I wanted to talk to you alone because… because I knew it was going to be hard enough without an audience, and Bruce didn't want you in Gotham and _I_ didn't want you at the Mountain for Connor's sake. The truth is… you may be able to deal being at a party with Connor, but he can't. _I_ can't. No one can actually."

Clark could only stare, the icy feeling in his stomach slowly spreading to his heart, then up to his throat so he couldn't speak and had completely frozen over in shock.

"And… and I really want you there." He continued, looking him in the eye sternly like only that little teen can. "I do, but… Connor is one of my best friends, a brother in arms and a teammate and just… just _so_ much more than you think he is. He's so new at everything and so hurt by you that every time you're mentioned he can only get frustrated and angry because he hasn't figured out how to cry yet. Everyone gets angry and frustrated when they talk about you and him, and… and I want this party to be a good memory. Young Justice isn't going to last forever, the Robin mantle isn't going to last forever, _nothing_ lasts forever, but this little get together is… is big. For me. Please, I want this to be a happy day, and it's not if one of my best friends can't even put on a real smile for me and no one can laugh for real because everything's too tense…"

He trailed off, big blue eyes wide and begging him to understand.

"You don't want me there." Clark heard himself say.

"No, I _do._ But… you can't be there. Connor needs me—I'm _his_ mentor in life, just like Bruce and Dinah are his mentors in fighting, and this is one time I can't abandon him…! I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

And he sounded it too.

It really hurt this little kid that he had to ask this of his uncle.

"I understand." He heard himself say again, his voice acting on its own.

Robin frowned deeply at him—in hurt, frustration, hopelessness… Clark couldn't tell.

"No you don't. But thank you anyway."

He leapt from his stool and wrapped his thin arms around the Man of Steel's neck in a brief hug. Clark only barely got his arms up to respond when the boy was gone, slipping the domino mask back on as he practically ran from the room.

The Zeta beam alarm signaled one departure, and he was alone.


	10. Introduced

"So… I had an idea, and you're going to hate it."

Bruce glanced up from where he was reading the crime section of the newspaper to where his son sat across the table for breakfast on a very normal morning.

"To be quite honest, I'm typically not ever _thrilled_ with the ideas you come up with. They often end up with one of us in some sort of mortal danger or at the very least attempting something that logically speaking, humans shouldn't do." He replied without missing a beat, taking a sip of his coffee and returning his eyes to the paper.

"But they also typically work out in the end, with better results than if we'd tried it the conventional route." Dick pointed out smugly.

"I never said they didn't." Bruce agreed evenly. "But I'm still never thrilled."

"I know. But… this time you're _really_ not gonna like it. On the upside though, we're not going to be in mortal danger, not directly at least." Dick hedged nervously, flashing a charming grin at his father in hopes he wouldn't just shut him down immediately.

Bruce sighed.

"Does this have something to do with telling the team our IDs?" He deduced. He really didn't like these conversations because Dick had a really good point in believing that to be a good team, they had to trust each other, and keeping his ID quiet was harmful to that. Still, good argument as it was, Bruce couldn't budge on it (even though "forbidding" Dick to do something was the same as "strongly suggesting" he not to the defiant little gypsy; Dick recognized he had to have Bruce's consent on it as well, seeing as he'd be spilling not just his, but both their secrets—and Batman depended on that secret a lot more the Robin did).

"Actually no. But also yes."

Bruce gave him an exasperated look.

"Fine, fine! I uh… actually it's about Connor. I want to tell Lois who we are so we can tell her about Connor and then she can kick some sense into Clark."

Now Bruce was really staring at him, the paper forgotten on the table.

"You want to tell—not your team—but a _reporter_ who we are? Not only a reporter, but a reporter who has no reason to keep our secret, unlike your team does?" He deadpanned.

"Yes." Dick nodded in confirmation, ignoring his father's already disapproving tone. "And before you say no—_consider it…!_ I mean, I've met Ms. Lane, and she's as much of a hard-ass as you are and still hasn't said a thing about Clark being Superman even though we all _know_ she's been dying to be the one to spill that story!" Dick tried to defend his idea. Though, he also knew if Bruce had already made a decision in the topic, he could also argue with a rock for all the good it would do.

"She has a romantic connection to Clark both in and out of costume—ergo, she has a solid reason _not to tell anyone._ She barely knows us." Bruce huffed, but Dick didn't miss the way he didn't simply say no, meaning he was actually going through the possibilities of it all and thinking up all the scenarios that went along with it.

"But I heard from Uncle Clark that the first time Bruce Wayne made an appearance in Metropolis he flirted hard with Lois and really ticked him off-"

"That was so she would be Luther's target and I could protect her when he tried to sabotage our business deal and Superman would save her. Besides, she truly is a good writer, and if anyone else had been Luther's target, they wouldn't have held up so well."

"Yes, I know she's a good hostage, and I've heard all the details of that from both you and Clark." Dick brushed that off impatiently. "My point is that she's on good terms with Bruce Wayne, and has been dying to get an exclusive with Richard Grayson since you adopted me—and don't even deny it, even Alfred says she's getting irritating."

"I will admit her determination is that of a Bat." Bruce agreed with a slight shrug, truly thinking it over now as he ran a hand over his dark hair.

"And you like her because she makes Clark's life just as hard as you do." Dick pointed out eagerly. "She'd be a good Bat if she ever decided to go vigilante on us."

Bruce frowned in thought.

"We can trust her! Trust _me!_ She may be terrified of Batman but she _loves_ Robin! Those are both reasons to keep a secret, and she can help us help Connor! I _know_ she can!" Dick begged, his wide blue eyes beseeching.

Bruce pursed his lips together and thought it over for a minute, calculating all the risks and possibilities. It was true, with Lois' stubbornness and bull-headedness (that he truly believed rivaled that of the Bats') she of everyone could keep a secret. YJ was immature, not yet thinking in terms of cause-and-effect, of consequences for their actions, of the strategy and insanity the criminal world could pull on them. Lois was very well used to being bludgeoned by the criminal world and still never gave in, still always ferreting her way back in for the next big scoop.

She was very well traversed in hero life while not actually being a hero with that giant target on her back, plus was stubborn enough to warrant some faith in her ability to keep a secret… if she wanted to.

Plus, Batman was always up for a scare, and Robin loved to make friends. Friend and fear: those were good reasons to keep your mouth shut to protect them.

But still… spilling who they were? Their IDs…?

His mind started to form a parallel plan.

"I'll make you a counter offer." He finally decided, and Dick glanced up curiously, if not warily.

"I'm listening…"

0000000000000

"_Ms. Lane, a call on line three for you."_ Her phone spoke to her. Without taking her eyes off the screen of her computer and her fingers barely halting in their rapid pace across the keyboard, she scooped up the phone receiver and cradled it in her shoulder against her ear.

"Lois Lane, Daily Planet, why are you calling me?" She said shortly into the speaker, frowning slightly as she made a spelling mistake in her article that spell-check didn't recognize. Damn it she hated spelling.

"Hello Ms. Lane, my name's Rob, and in case you were wondering it's spelled _h-i-e-r-a-r-c-h-y._"

Her fingers froze over the keyboard, her eyes instantly going wide yet not seeing the screen in front of her anymore.

She sat bolt straight as if she'd been electrocuted and firmly gripping the phone closer to her ear.

"Who are you?" She demanded fiercely. "How can you see that?"

"Because I am _awesome_ like that. Now, if you'd be so kind as to meet me in the elevator, we can discuss what I really came to annoy you about." He said brightly, seeming totally unconcerned that this was a rather stressful situation. 

She turned around sharply and carefully scanned the room around her, busy as always in that they ignored her odd reaction. She didn't recognize the voice, but how else could he see her screen and then ask to meet in the elevator if he wasn't here?

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me who the hell you are." She growled into the phone.

"And I am pressing the lobby floor button as we speak, so your chances of finding out are quickly being reduced to zero." He said calmly, and on cue Lois snapped her head up to the sound of the elevator ringing out as the doors slid open.

Her grip in the phone triples in frustration, and she hesitated.

But a moment later she was slamming the phone down, grabbing her purse from the side of her desk and running towards the elevator. She slid in just before they could close and spun around the small space curiously.

There was no one there.

"Great. Just fabulous." She snarled to herself, jabbing the elevator buttons to go back to the top floor as fast as possible. She hated being made a fool of, and so far as she was concerned, the faster she got back upstairs the faster she could start pretending this didn't happen. It was just a coincidence and a stupid freakin' prank caller.

That was, until the doors slid open at the Lobby level and a boy about thirteen years old with dark shades over his eyes stood there grinning innocently at her.

"Hello Ms. Lane, pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard _so_ much from my Uncle Clark." He smiled devilishly.

First off, Lois recognized the voice and was about to yell for security when his words sunk in.

_Uncle Clark?_

"Who the hell are you?" She snapped, eyeing him warily. She normally would've been even more pissed than she was, but he was just a kid…? How the heck did he see her screen, get the elevator to work for him, and yet beat her down here? She was wary, to say the least.

"I told you, my name is Rob. Well, to those outside the family at least. Shall we take a walk?" He said, gesturing to the front door.

She stared at him. She was about to tell him to take a hike when the elevator doors started to close and she instinctively jumped out of it to face the boy properly.

"Do you have a story for me?" She demanded.

He pursed his lips. "No, I'm afraid I don't." He said with a surprising note of truthfulness to it, though she quickly decided he was good enough to be able to pull that off even if he were lying. She didn't pay it much credit.

"Then I don't care." She said shortly, turning back and jabbing the up button and tapping her foot impatiently as always, trying to ignore the boy was there at all.

She heard him let out a long-suffering sigh. "Please, this is about Superman. If you want to stop me and my father from killing him in the near future, you need to hear me out."

She spun around and gave him a shocked look.

"_Who are you?"_ She hissed.

He looked tired of the circles they were dancing.

"Stand here and ask that to no one, or follow me out the door and find out. I'm as interested in seeing this all work out as you, but I won't if you don't _play nice_ for the next fifteen minutes." He said simply, turning on his heel and striding across the vast Lobby towards the door.

As she had upstairs, she growled in frustration before following him after a moment of angry hesitation. She hated being used like this, but it didn't seem like she had another option. And if this was about keeping Superman safe, she had to at least make sure this threat wasn't real.

They walked down the sidewalk for a few blocks, Lois refusing to be the one to ask again. He'd obviously put a lot of effort into getting her out here, so he obviously had something to tell her, and she wasn't going to beg for information. He had to come to _her._

Finally, they came to a small park, and he quickly crossed the street with her on his heels. Once on the paths, beneath the leafy trees of early spring, he started walking much slower, at a leisurely pace.

"So," He said, glancing about at the pretty much empty park, save the occasional jogger or book-reader spread out on the grass. "Nice day isn't it?" He said conversationally.

Her anger flared. "Cut the crap and get to what this is all about." She hissed.

He sighed, but actually smirked a little at her tone. "No wonder my father likes you, you're as to the point as he is." He chuckled to himself.

She felt irked about not being in the know. "And who is your father?" She said scathingly.

"Superman's best friend. That is, if my father had friends. I suppose 'rivals' is the best way to put it…"

She snorted. _She_ was Clark's rival when he wasn't in costume, competing for bylines and the best stories…

"Yes, you are his rival too, aren't you?" The boy mused.

She came up short, stopping dead in the middle of the path. How had he done that?

But he didn't stop, he just kept walking and enjoying the lovely park and waiting for her to catch up. She finally broke free of her shocked daze and jogged a little to get up to walk beside him again.

"You know his ID." She said. Not a question. She should have seen it earlier with his 'uncle Clark' comment followed by talk about Superman.

Rob snorted. "No duh. A pair of glasses isn't a disguise." He grinned, pushing up his own dark sunglasses with a mischievous smirk.

Almost unwillingly her brain made the next connection.

"You're a vigilante too." She blinked in shock.

He grinned easily. "Guilty as charged." He nodded with a casual shrug.

She ran through all the names of the young heroes she knew, but unfortunately, there weren't many.

"Who?" She asked, finally giving into her curiosity.

"I told you, call me Rob. My friends do, though technically it's short for Robin."

She froze again, and this time he stopped and watched her work through this news with an amused smile on his lips.

"Y-you're…"

"Yep." He nodded cheerfully.

"A-and… you're _dad…"_

"The one and only." He cackled. He turned and kept on walking away, and a moment later she rejoined him at a run.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah…. Are you telling me that Clark is on good terms with _Batman_?!" She hissed, still not believing.

"You knew they worked together, did you not?" He accused lightly.

"Well, yeah sure, it's been mentioned, but I guess it never really… I mean it wasn't _real_ until…"

"Until you have the proof smirking at you." He concluded, finishing it off with a true-to-form smirk.

"Well… _yeah!"_ She gasped, still amazed. "I think my respect for Superman just doubled. But wait… why would you and him be planning on killing him?" She frowned, eyeing him cautiously. She wasn't so peeved about him tricking her out of the office anymore, now that she knew he was a freakin' _Bat…_

Robin huffed impatiently. "We wouldn't _plan_ such a thing, for in all honesty it'd probably happen when we've finally had it with his antics, and since we are very well known for our patience, perhaps the threat I implied is not so imminent." He allowed, "Besides, the Bat actually finds him acceptable, which is more than can be said of most, and I've known him since I was nine. He _is_ my uncle, in every sense of the word besides blood I suppose." He explained.

"And what is he doing to piss you off so badly? I kinda assumed him being a Boy Scout in general would irritate you two, but you've put up with him so far." She admitted, and he let out a cackling laugh.

"Well, I couldn't deny that's true." He chuckled. "My father more than me—I'm not _quite_ as dark as he is, though putting on a good show for it can always help." He grinned knowingly. Then, his smile faded some as he frowned a bit in thought. "I don't think you know, seeing as its top secret, but many of the League has younger partners, not just me."

"I know of Kid Flash and Speedy." She supplied.

He rolled his eyes at the mention of Speedy. "Yeah like that I guess, only there are a lot more. I was a vigilante for years before the public— and even the rest of the League— knew that Batman even _had_ a partner. There are others like me, that the public doesn't know about."

"That's... well, it makes sense I guess. I'm sure they'll be great someday too." She acknowledged.

He tilted his head in acceptance of the compliment. "You were there for the public 'welcoming young heroes into the League' fiasco right?"

"When Speedy quit." She nodded, remembering.

"Well, it was me who figured out that it was a front. The _real_ League is… well, it is currently beyond the reach of people like me and those my age group. And to say we were angered would be the understatement of the year."

"I would be too." She muttered.

He nodded in agreement. "However, to remedy that we formed our own team. A covert mini-team consisting of all the young heroes whose mentors are League members. We've been at it ever since, and… though we're probably not the most cohesive team in the universe, we've been doing well."

"That's fascinating and all, but you told me you didn't have a story so I assume you're going to ask me to keep this all confidential." She deduced and he smiled with a nod in confirmation. She sighed at yet another interesting story she had to bury, but moved on. "So… why tell me this?"

He frowned. "Because Superman, whether he likes it or not, _is_ a mentor, and so far he's doing a terrible job."

She stared at him in shock.

"Woah, hold up a minute, _who_ is he supposed to be mentoring?" She demanded.

Robin sighed heavily. He took her shoulder and turned her 45 degrees to the left and pointed across a small pond they were currently standing beside.

Lois was looking, but couldn't believe.

"Oh my god." She heard herself say.

"He's not Clark," Robin said quickly, and she half turned her head to listen to him while still not being able to tear her eyes away from the man she loved, except a couple decades younger than she'd seen him that morning.

"He's… uh, a… son…?"

"No." Robin said firmly and immediately, causing Lois to actually glance his way for a brief moment in surprise, throwing him a quizzical look before going back to ogling at the teenage version of Clark sitting patiently on the park bench, gazing out at the pond where the ducks were swimming peacefully in little groups.

"Who is he then?" She asked.

"A clone." She gave him a shocked look. "I know, I know… basically, a group of scientists wanted a… I dunno, a _plan B_ if Superman ever died, or a contingency plan in case Superman went rouge and needed to be stopped…"

"So they created a _clone_ of him to do that?" She gasped in horror. "And a _boy_ at that!?"

"Well… that's actually our fault. My team incidentally ended up in their labs and figured out what they were doing, and managed to stop it before he… was finished, I guess. They'd planned on waiting until he was a clone of a fully grown Superman, but we stepped in…"

"And now he just a teenager, a boy." She connected, staring at the young version of her lover in wonder and pity.

"Technically he's just barely a year old, though physically he's sixteen or something." Robin sighed. "Unfortunately, he _acts_ like a one year old in a teenage-angst filled body, which is to say, difficult at times. He… isn't very good socially; he only knows what the people who created him taught him, which is pretty much all facts and statistics about Superman and other heroes." He explained, "He was created to be Superboy, and nothing else, but me and my team are trying to teach him to be a normal kid. He chose the name Connor a few months ago."

"Facts and statistics? Well what'd'ya know, a smart Smallville. Imagine that." She snorted, glancing down at him again and coming up short when the boy beside her didn't look amused, but had a very serious, very worried look on his face.

"I wouldn't call him Smallville, he probably doesn't even know that's a town, much less where it is." He sighed.

Lois tore her eyes away from Connor and gave the young vigilante a look. "How could he _not_ know where Smallville is? That's Clark's hometown!" She scoffed.

Robin looked her square in the eyes, and even through the impenetrable glasses she could feel the force of his piercing stare. "I _did_ mention that Clark is a terrible mentor. That's why I'm here. Connor was 'born' about a year ago now, and Clark still refuses to talk to him. The one and only time they talked alone, Connor almost tore apart our training gym he was so upset—and trust me, a teenage pissed-off Kryptonian is never the easiest thing to deal with. I love Clark like an Uncle, but this has to stop."

Lois balked.

"But Clark's good with kids! I mean… isn't he?" She frowned, thinking back, and realizing that apart from saving them from runaway buses or buildings on fire, she'd never seen Clark interact with kids before. She herself was crap with them, but she'd always assumed he was.

"He says he's not." Rob huffed. "Says he never wanted a son or a clone or whatever and just can't deal. So, Connor's being trained by the Bats and other young heroes and doing well, but… it's not the same. He doesn't understand much, but he especially doesn't understand why his hero won't even talk to him. He just idolized Superman like nothing else, and… he doesn't get why Clark doesn't seem to care."

"This is crazy," Lois shook her head in disbelief. "This totally doesn't fit into what I know of Clark. How…? I mean just _how?! _He's the freakin' Boy Scout, the _original_ Boy Scout, how the hell is he… and why didn't he tell me! I mean, I know it's only been a few months since… no wait, it's been over a year! This happened while I knew who he was and he _still_ didn't tell me! Oh he is going _down_ for this…_" _She ranted acidly.

"So you will help us?" Robin asked cautiously.

"Help you kill Clark? Definitely." She huffed, glancing back at the boy. "Uh… do you think maybe I could go talk to him?" She wondered aloud.

Robin beamed. "He'd _love_ that actually. He's a big fan of your writing, oddly enough." He smirked.

Lois gave him a curious look. "Does he know Superman's identity?" She clarified.

"Nope." He said cheerfully, smirk even more pronounced though with a tinge of frustration. "He doesn't know anything about Superman that the public doesn't. He _does_ however read the Daily Planet every day because he's curious about what goes on in Metropolis, and loves your and Clark's writing enough that when he chose his name, he picked _Connor Kent."_

Lois blinked rapidly, and a second later her own smirk started to form.

"Talk about a fate." She chuckled.

"Finally, someone agrees with me." Robin sighed. "Come on, I'll introduce you," He beckoned her forward and they walked around the pond to the bench where Robin had told Connor to wait.

The moment the clone spotted Robin he smiled, and then his eyes slid to Lois and they went wide.

"My god…" Lois marveled the similarity to her boyfriend and the boy before her. It was just so surreal, and yet…

"Connor, this is Lois Lane, the friend I was talking about." Robin said cheerfully, bouncing forward and pulling a shocked Superboy to his feet. The clone looked completely lost for a moment before Robin grabbed his hand and pushed it forward.

Socially inept indeed, was all Lois could think, but with a fond air to her thoughts.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I've heard some great things about you," Lois nodded politely, taking Connor's hand with a welcoming smile. Normally, when meeting someone new, she'd be trying to crush their hand and intimidate them with excess direct eye contact to let them know how their conversation was going to go, but this time she backed way off. She actually smiled warmly and was gentle, even though she could tell by the way his hand was as unmovable as stone and barely reacting to her touch, that he wouldn't feel her grip due to his super strength, and also that he had no idea how to control that strength either, and simply opted to be motionless than risk it.

The boy actually _blushed_ lightly and ducked his head a bit automatically. "Um… it's nice to meet you too." He said quietly, unsure of himself. "I… I like your work." He said softly.

Lois grinned. He was so different from Clark, but so similar… it was just unbelievable, and completely fascinating.

"Con, I need to go signal the Bat real quick, make sure Ms. Lane doesn't get kidnapped again, k?" He grinned jokingly.

Lois shot him an amused/exasperated look, but had to bite back honest laughter at Superboy's completely baffled and concerned expression.

"Connor, he's joking." She said, fighting her laughter and laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. The clone looked surprised, but then nodded silently in understanding, still looking mildly concerned.

Robin turned to Lois and nodded, "I don't think I've said it yet, so I will now: thank you."

She smiled with a short nod of her own. "No, no, thank _you_ for bringing this to my attention. It will be my _pleasure_ the kick his ass for this." She said firmly.

Connor looked extremely concerned now.

"Who are you talking about?" He asked curiously, glancing to Robin with wide eyes. Lois immediately saw that the younger—physically—boy was the clone's go-to person for when he didn't understand something.

"I'll explain later, don't worry about it," Robin smiled at him. "We're exaggerating a little bit—no one's _actually_ getting hurt." He explained, and Connor nodded slowly as he worked through that. "Okay then, I'll be back in a bit." He grinned, nodding to both of them.

Connor nodded and by the time Lois glanced back over, he'd vanished.

She blinked that off—_Bat, _she reminded herself, _he's a BAT— _and turned to face Connor again.

"So, Connor, do you like ice cream?" She asked conversationally.

He blinked, and gulped a little nervously at her.

"Um… I don't think so…?" He said, making it sound more like a question than anything.

Oh no, that wouldn't do, she decided.

She was going to have fun with this.


	11. Learned

Lois loved Connor.

He was nothing like Clark, not really, but he did have some of the same mannerisms.

Like, when he was embarrassed he ducked his head slightly, he was right handed yet used his left hand to eat, he pressed his lips together and furrowed his brow a bit when thinking of an answer to a question he didn't know off the top of his head, and he ran a hand through his hair when flustered or realizing something.

He was broodier than Clark, not nearly as chipper or happy about normal things—"normal" things tended to go straight over Connor's head. He was extraordinarily blunt and unafraid—or maybe even unaware—to say anything he thought or do anything he thought logical, even if it wasn't quite socially acceptable.

His opinions on things had a definitely cynical twist to them, and his frowns far outweighed his smiles, though that only made each tiny grin all that much more worth it.

Lois supposed she shouldn't be so surprised by those traits, from what Robin told her and knowing that he was being raised by him and Batman—he was _bound_ to be a bit darker than the guy in a neon red cape.

She also noticed he was very self-conscious about being a hero, as if he didn't actually know a thing about it much less the fact it was technically _all_ he knew how to do. He shut himself down every time she got anywhere close to talking about Superman or his powers, so she didn't need to be the self-proclaimed greatest reporter ever that she was to figure out he had some obviously deep issues with his absent mentor.

He alternated between being strong and aggressive, to being shy and clueless. He was both an angst-y teenager and an innocent toddler at the same time. He was extremely intelligent, like a walking calculator/encyclopedia, and yet had absolutely no clue what a joke or humor was, or what the inflections in speech meant. She decided that talking to him would be comparable to simply writing it down with no punctuations or anything: he got the words only, and nothing beyond that.

As a writer who prided herself on being an artist with words, she decided to take it upon herself to help him with that.

It was getting late into the evening when Robin finally showed up again. She'd gotten a text from Perry that he received her sick notice for leaving so suddenly, which she most definitely didn't send and had to attribute it to a certain little well-known hacker for that. But she didn't mind, and Connor most certainly didn't seem to notice that Robin had said he was only going to go for a few minutes and had been gone all afternoon—both had enjoyed their afternoon together.

She hoped she'd managed to teach the boy _something_ about humor, because of everything she'd learned, the not understanding humor was by far the saddest part. And Connor, for his part, looked immensely cheered, now knowing at least how to tell what irony was and a few tricks to understand sarcasm instead of taking it so literally.

Both felt very accomplished by the end of the day.

But, Robin had eventually arrived and informed them that Superman was on his way back to Metropolis after dealing with a hurricane on the other side of the world.

Lois couldn't help but notice the way Connor's eyes darkened and he seemed to curl in on himself slightly at the mention of his hero.

"Don't worry, I'm totally marking it on my calendar to do this again, and we won't wait for another hurricane to do it." She promised him. He looked nervous, but definitely cheered at that idea.

"Ok." He nodded in agreement, managing a small smile.

"It was wonderful to meet you Connor—and don't worry, I'm going to go give Superman an earful about being a jerk." She said, standing and giving him a hug. He looked shocked, and when she pulled away he was looking almost _scared. _

"Y-you really don't have to, I mean, I'd never ask-"

She cut him off by placing her hands on his shoulders. "Connor. I _want to."_ She said with a smile. "You're a great kid, and you don't deserve this. I'd like to think I know him better than anyone, and I honestly couldn't begin to tell you why he's acting like this to you. But I promise, if I can do anything, I will."

He blinked, and she saw his eyes get a bit watery. A second later he touch his the corner of his eye and blinking in confusion and mild alarm at the wetness he found there.

Her heart ripped a little when she realized he must not know what crying was.

And honestly, she didn't know if she could explain it without getting all choked up herself.

She smiled warmly, pulling him into another hug. "Go home and try out a joke or two on that team of yours ok? I want you crackin 'em left and right next time I see you, okay?" She pulled back and he nodded seriously.

She lifted an eyebrow at him and he blinked. A moment later realization flickered in his eyes and he managed a small smile of his own.

She sighed and let out a chuckle, turning back to Robin who'd been sitting a ways away and texting inconspicuously to give them a chance to say goodbye.

"Lay easy on the jokes for a bit, he's still got the training wheels on with that sense of humor of his." Lois told the smaller boy, who grinned wickedly back at her.

"Cheesy puns only it is!" He cackled, jumping forward and standing beside Superboy. "Ready to go home? Rumor has it we might get a mission tomorrow morning." He said excitedly, and Connor nodded with a gentle smile too.

"Be careful," Lois commanded Connor with a serious frown, and he nodded dutifully back at her.

"And you must not get captured again." He said seriously back at her.

She blinked in surprise before nodding easily back. He grinned, and she realized he was making a joke.

She couldn't help but cry out in laughter and grinning proudly at him with a clap of her hands. "You, my dear, are well on your way!" She laughed, more entertained by his attempt than the actual joke.

He grinned happily and Robin looked about ready to explode with pride, but he refrained from commenting, letting them share that triumph. They said goodbye, and he waved sweetly back to her.

She smiled and waved back as the smaller boy dragged the super clone down the street, knowing she would see them both again soon, and already writing out the speech she was going to corner Clark with the minute they were alone.


	12. Corrected

**Hello Internet. **

**I love Lois.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Clark was kind of ready for a nap by the time he got back to Metropolis, but since it was only 8:00pm—which was far from quitting time on _Lois_ _Time_— he decided he needed to go back to the Planet to finish up some work and catch up with Lois for a bit. He even swung by her favorite coffee shop to pick them both up something, but was surprised when he got there and Perry informed him that Lois had gone home sick at around 10:30 that morning.

He could tell by Perry's look that even he was worried about their ace reporter. Lois once came into work with the full-out flu, bundled up tightly so as not to infect anyone else, and several times in her career Perry had had to call an ambulance on her to _force_ her to get some rest.

The fact she was willingly out sick was alarming enough that Perry didn't even comment on his absence that day as Clark turned right around and left not five minutes after getting there.

He didn't bother with going home normally, too worried about his missing girlfriend, and went to the roof and flew home within seconds.

He had barely managed to step inside from the balcony when he heard her—not dying from some strange illness as he'd been fearing, but clearing her throat impatiently.

He turned, and there she was: perfectly healthy and sitting on the couch and staring impassively at him. Though, he could tell from the crossed arms over her chest that she wasn't happy. The only problem was, he couldn't tell _how_ unhappy she was—it was a secret only she ever knew up until the point she either forgave him or exploded. There were no in-betweens on that spectrum.

"You called out sick." He pointed out carefully.

He could've sworn he saw her blink a bit in surprise when she heard his voice, her eyes widening for a split second until they returned to normal.

"And you just weren't there." She countered.

He frowned. "You know why—there was a Hurricane off the coast of Japan: I was redirecting some of the air currents." He reminded her.

She cocked one eyebrow. "Oh, I'm sorry, I just thought we were stating the obvious." She drawled sarcastically.

Yep. Definitely pissed.

"I brought coffee," He offered her the cup, setting it on the coffee table, shooting off for a third of a second to change into normal clothes, and then taking a seat next to her on the couch—though not _too_ close if she was going to be yelling at him.

She glanced at the coffee, the fixed her stare onto him without commenting.

And since Lois was _not_ dying and still refused coffee, Clark quickly decided the world was ending.

"I met an interesting person today. Two actually." She began casually, though Clark could clearly hear the dangerous edge behind it.

"Oh…" He said noncommittally, feeling slightly more afraid that he did facing down the Hurricane that afternoon.

"Yes. He introduced himself as your nephew actually…" Clark felt surprise flash on his face.

"Rob?" He blurted out.

She gave him an exasperated look. "Do you have any other nephews?" She snarked bitterly.

"What!? No! I just… I mean, why would he…?"

She narrowed her eyes fiercely at him. "I'll give you _three guesses_ who the other person I met today was."

Clark stared at her for a minute.

Then it clicked, and his stomach dropped, his heart starting to pump a bit harder.

Yes, he was definitely right, the world was ending.

"Lois, I can exp-"

"Don't you _dare_ say you can _explain_ this!" She snapped, voice jumping in volume while she lurched to her feet and started pacing in front of the coffee table. "You have NO excuse for this! You cannot _possibly _understand how PISSED I am right now! You moron! You fool! You _inconsiderate bastard!_ How _dare_ you ignore that boy—I don't _care_ if you're the freakin Boy Scout, you are an ASS, do you understand me? A complete and utter **ASS**!"

He blinked in shock at the woman he loved so completely furious at him.

And then something else about her statement sunk in, and threw him for a surprise.

"You… don't mind…?"

She looked shocked at him. "What part about that little rant gave you the impression I _don't mind?_ I REALLY DO mind; I mind _everything_ you've screwed up so far!" She snapped.

"No, I mean," He tried to find the words. "You don't mind that I… that I even _have_ a, uh… a…"

"A _clone_ Clark?" She spat, disgusted. He flinched internally as seeing her so fed-up with him. "Actually, yes, I _do_ mind that some scientist out there was cruel enough to decide to create an entire new life for such a _stupid_ reason as being another _you._ Who the hell could put up with _two of you_ if you're both going to act like this!?" She snarled acidly. "But no, I don't _blame you for it_ if that's what you're asking." She allowed. "I _blame you_ for being an idiot in dealing with it once it happened."

He held his hands out helplessly to her. "Lois… please, look at it from my point of view," He eyes narrowed suspiciously again, but she didn't interrupt him. "I mean… you don't like kids either! How would you feel if suddenly there was this _kid_, this _copy_ of yourself, that everyone seemed to think you should be in charge of-!?"

"I'm going to stop you right there." She said in a forced calm voice. She took a deep breath, and he could tell she was trying to speak logically rather than resorting to simply yelling at him again. "First of all, he is no _copy of you._ He's as different as he could get other than the looks." She declared, but before he could ask, she cut him off.

"Secondly, don't you _dare_ try and compare this to me—_no one_ could _possibly_ copy _this."_ She said, gesturing to herself proudly, her ego shining through a little. "And even if they could, they could _never_ match my reporting talents or my kick-ass deductive skills. That I got from a childhood with the General and being a woman in a world where men ran the rules. Nowadays, with all this _sexism awareness _crap, no one would ever give my clone a hard time, and therefore she would never be as kick-butt as the _original_, thankyouverymuch!" She declared.

"And thirdly!" She cleared her throat, seeming to realize she was getting louder again. "And thirdly, don't bring up me being bad with kids into this." She said warningly. "I may not be Mary freakin Poppins when it comes to every kid I meet, but I know when I have to step up. When my sister was sick and her husband was overseas, I took care of her kids! They may have eaten pizza for breakfast and not showered as much as they should've, but I took care of them, sort of…! They didn't _die_ or anything at least! I didn't just _pretend they didn't exist_ to avoid the problem!" She hissed.

"And _fourthly—_ fourthly? Is that a word? Oh, never mind, the _last thing_ is that everyone is _right_ in thinking you should have taken him in! That boy could barely shake my hand because he didn't know how to control his strength! He looks like a kicked puppy every time you're brought up, and he doesn't so much as know your _name_ despite the fact he practically worships the ground you walk on! No one is saying you're his father or brother or _anything_, they're _only_ saying that he's a young hero who's not going to live very long if he can't figure out how to control his powers." She gave him a serious look, and he saw… _worry_ in her eyes? "And Clark, if he dies because you never taught him how to fight, I swear to god I will never forgive you."

It felt like someone had gripped his heartstrings and sliced through them with a butcher's knife.

"Y-you…?"

"I'm dead serious." She said coldly. "You want me in your life, you're going to need how to figure out how to work him in too." She shrugged simply. "I'm not saying we all need to be some damn Norman Rockwell painting, but I'm saying that Connor can't be out there, fighting in the hero business, with a thirteen-year-old boy as his mentor. Impressive as that little kid is, Robin's just that: another kid. A kid, and _your _nephew who you've delegated this responsibility to, which is _far_ from ok if you ask me. Just… _talk_ to him, ok? And don't be an ass this time."

He pinched the bridge of his nose in stress.

"Lois…"

"Uh-uh, I'm receiving all arguments in writing through my email, but am no longer arguing this." She said, glaring at him. "I can see it on your face that you _don't_ have any thought-out excuses for why you're acting like this, so I'll give you all the time you need to think it out, write it down, and forward it. Until you can come up with some _damn good_ reasons you can deflect a hurricane yet can't do this, OR you cut the crap, apologize, and starting making nice with the kid, you will be sleeping out here."

She turned, scooped up the pillow and blanket she'd brought out from the bedroom and chucked it at him.

Then she was gone, slamming the bedroom door behind her.

Clark started in shock.

* * *

Bruce was sitting in his office at Wayne Enterprises going over the schedule for that business day, when his computer beeped quietly. He glanced at the screen, and had to do a double take at what the message was telling him.

Someone with one of the founding member's database codes just downloaded all the mission files and reports on the Young Justice team, as well as the personel file for Superboy.

And since there was only one founding member who didn't already know that stuff, Bruce couldn't help the smirk forming on his lips.

He straightened his papers again and went back to reading his morning briefing, all the while making a mental note to give in next time Dick begged to take the Batmobile out with Alfred when learning how to drive.

He had definitely earned it, after this.


End file.
